Dunelm's shareholders vote for a £43m bonus

Shareholders of homeware chain Dunelm have voted overwhelmingly in favour of paying themselves a £43m bonus.

The thriving Syston company said 99.9% of investors approved the special dividend. It will see the founding Adderley family, which holds a 59% stake, receive £25m.

The proposed pay-out was announced last month when the group announced a 69.3% rise in pre-tax profits to £46.2m in the six months to January 2. Revenue rose 26% to £254.2m over the same period. The company has benefited from the economic downturn as shoppers trade down to its lower cost products.

Speaking at the time, chief executive Will Adderley, the son of founders Bill and Jean, said the pay-out was "a very normal thing" for a successful business to do.

"It's the sort of thing that healthy cash-generating businesses regularly do," he said.

The company increased its share of the UK homeware market by 0.6% to 4.6%, while the entire sector fell by 4% to £11bn.

Dunelm has leapfrogged Ikea and Tesco to go from fifth to third place in the market behind Argos owner Home Retail Group and John Lewis, says research firm Verdict.